Road to Drop E on a KM7!

[TiffuZeless]

Yay sso community! How are you guys doing?
So yeah, let's get to the point - I have a KM7 with a stock ernie ball .062 in the seventh string tuned to A, and there's a daddario nyxl .080 on the way to my country
As the KM7 have a "tiny" 26.5" scale, i'm wondering if my .080 will be able to hold such a low tuning. What do you guys think?
I know it comes down to personal preferences, but i'd like to hear what you guys have to say.
When it arrives, i'll try to do a brief clip for you folks, but until then, all I can do is to wait
Oh, and by the way, I will be tuning my guitar to Drop E but sometimes I'll tune it in Drop G, too - that's a huge difference in tension I think...
So, what gauges would you guys sugest me?
I like how a .046 feels for E in 26.5", but also can handle a .052 in the same tuning/scale without any problems, as well a .062 for A.
Thanks for your attention!

 

[lewis]

Yay sso community! How are you guys doing?
So yeah, let's go to the point - I have a KM7 with a stock ernie ball .062 in the seventh string tuned to A, and there's a daddario nyxl .080 on the way to my country
As the KM7 have a "tiny" 26.5" scale, i'm wondering if my .080 will be able to hold such a low tuning. What do you guys think?
I know it comes down to personal preferences, but i'd like to hear what you guys have to say.
When it arrives, i'll try to do a brief clip for you folks, but until then, all I can do is to wait
Oh, and by the way, I will be tuning my guitar to Drop E but sometimes I'll tune it in Drop G, too - that's a huge difference in tension I think...
So, what gauges would you guys sugest me?
I like how a .046 feels for E in 26.5", but also can handle a .052 in the same tuning/scale without any problems, as well a .062 for A.
Thanks for your attention!

Im going to say no, You will probably need something up around the 90 mark maybe slightly larger. Sounds like It might be spaghettiville if not.

 

[Ibanez RG7321]

I have a 7321, 25.5, 10-60 gauge strings but I swapped the 60 out for a 65. Its in drop F with no issues WHAT SO EVER

 

[TiffuZeless]

Im going to say no, You will probably need something up around the 90 mark maybe slightly larger. Sounds like It might be spaghettiville if not.

Wow that's some freaking huge gauge haha

Wouldn't it sound a little more like a bass string? (I don't have an Axe FX or Kemper or some heavy modulated rig, just the free vst's and Guitar Rig 3, so heavy processing won't be here with me to help quiting some muddiness issues)

BTW, how would a .090 feel in G?

'Cause I'll sometimes tune it to Drop G too - like, one week in G, other in E -, and that's the main problem with the tension here...

 

[TiffuZeless]

I have a 7321, 25.5, 10-60 gauge strings but I swapped the 60 out for a 65. Its in drop F with no issues WHAT SO EVER

Interesting... I saw somewhere that Vildhjarta uses a .068 in G/F/E, but it looks to damn floppy haha. Don't know how they can play with so much floppiness.

Never tried a .065, but my .062 only seemed to work well up to A, but could go till G. Anything below that wasn't playable at all. I also used to own a RG8, wich had a .074 in G , but my actual .062 feels tighter in G than the .074 in the RG8

Really, I don't even mind why (that doesn't make sense), but it feels better. Floppy, but better.

Could you upload some clip/video with your ibby in drop F? Thanks!

 

[lewis]

Wow that's some freaking huge gauge haha

Wouldn't it sound a little more like a bass string? (I don't have an Axe FX or Kemper or some heavy modulated rig, just the free vst's and Guitar Rig 3, so heavy processing won't be here with me to help quiting some muddiness issues)

BTW, how would a .090 feel in G?

'Cause I'll sometimes tune it to Drop G too - like, one week in G, other in E -, and that's the main problem with the tension here...

G would be tight, I use Gb on my 8 string which is a 27 inch scale. Atm Im using an 80 gauge but its still a touch too light. Im even tempted to try a 108 gauge haha

 

[Ibanez RG7321]

Interesting... I saw somewhere that Vildhjarta uses a .068 in G/F/E, but it looks to damn floppy haha. Don't know how they can play with so much floppiness.

Never tried a .065, but my .062 only seemed to work well up to A, but could go till G. Anything below that wasn't playable at all. I also used to own a RG8, wich had a .074 in G , but my actual .062 feels tighter in G than the .074 in the RG8

Really, I don't even mind why (that doesn't make sense), but it feels better. Floppy, but better.

Could you upload some clip/video with your ibby in drop F? Thanks!

Yeah, Ill grab a vid of it. Im pretty used to floppy strings. Ever since my first guitar, I bought the 10-60 gauge for drop B on my 6, and even some in A. I cant stand tight, my 8 has 10-74 and I have it in drop D. It is perfect to me. The 8 feels good on the first few strings but the rest are real tight and I just dont like it. Neither set-ups feel real floppy though, the vid will show. Now the 7 string, nothing is really floppy, a bit loose but no flop. I like it balanced so to speak. Not real tight but not too loose for all strings. Too tight and its hard to bend and kills my fingers. And, BTW, I stole the 65 off the RG8 lol when I went to the 10-74 set. The 65 IMO is perfect for the 7 and drop F, for me at least. Its weird how some have no issues and some do with the same guitar and string set-up. Dont get me wrong though, a little thicker and it will probably sound a lot better in the lower notes when playing barre chords. It is a good enough set-up for me though. I dont play in a band or anything. Im more of a bedroom player if you will

 

[Action]

I use .082 on 26.5" for E/F/F#. It is not spaghetti or a bridge cable. I can't wail the hell out of it in E but I can hit it pretty hard without a buzz @ 3/32" 12th fret action. If you want it to sound more like a bass string, if you need to wail the hell out of it, or have proven that something in the 80 territory doesnt feel right to you, then sure, go huge. I don't believe in .090 and up unless you're going to D1 and below.

edit: i use kalium, entirely possible they have higher tension than your brand of choice, so that does matter

 

[Masoo2]

I'd probably get an 85 to 90.

I use an 80 on my 27 inch 8 string and it handles F# to E perfectly and is even okay down to C# (I wouldn't stay at C# with this gauge though, use at least a 95)

 

[Konfyouzd]

I play a SLAT3-8 (26.5"). I'm using an 86 for E1

 

[Alex Kenivel]

90 on my 30 at E1

 

[rockskate4x]

If have ever tolerated playing .009-.042 in drop D, you end up with a low string with just under 12 lbs of tension. I find this to be my tolerable limit. Not comfortable, mind you, but tolerable. With that in mind, I would need at least a .072 for drop E on the KM7, and even then I think i would prefer it around F#1 or G1

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I have a 7321, 25.5, 10-60 gauge strings but I swapped the 60 out for a 65. Its in drop F with no issues WHAT SO EVER

Dang, I use a 64/65 for A# on a 25.5" scale and wouldn't be comfortable using that gauge for anything lower than A just goes to show how important personal taste is!

For the KM-7, I'd use at least a 70 for G and around an 82 for E, so do with that what you will if you're going to be switching between the two tunings with the same strings.

 

[Zhysick]

A .046" in E2 at that scale length is about 18lb. To have the same tension at E1 you will need something around the .090"...

 

[Ibanez RG7321]

Dang, I use a 64/65 for A# on a 25.5" scale and wouldn't be comfortable using that gauge for anything lower than A just goes to show how important personal taste is!

Yeah, its just the gauge I prefer. I hate the strings too tight.


I havent forgot about the video. Working on a project car and it consumes a lot of my time

 

[Azuricus]

Sometimes on my RG7421 I tune the low B string down to an F#. I use a .068 for this string, so I get almost 12 pounds of tension down there. By no means is this unplayable; it just requires a bit of adjusting your play style to handle the less aggression required in picking.

If you can handle the lower tension an .080 should be ideal for a low E on your KM7. It would deliver a bit over 13 pounds of tension then, along with about 19 pounds for a G.

For a reference in terms of tension, perhaps you could try tuning your current .062 a mere half step down. However the difference between your current tuning and that would make a very, very small difference in tension and wouldn't be noticed. If you're alright with that, try tuning down even further and recognize your limit for string tension -- perhaps you may find something like a .076 or .074 to be to your liking.